How to bring a brand to its knees on YouTube
Welcome to today’s instalment of How Social Media Can Kill Your Brand. Today’s case study? Domino’s. Enjoy.
“Marketers are getting an instant lesson in the dangers of an online world where just about anyone with a video camera and a grudge can bring a company to its knees with lightning speed.”
Update: And here’s the YouTube response from the president of Domino’s USA. Pretty good. (Hat tip: Lucio Ribeiro):
There’s some dumb people in this world lemme tell ya.
Domino’s response is up https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7l6AJ49xNSQ. They’ve also created a corporate account on twitter less than a day ago under @dpzinfo.
Interesting times…
User ID not verified.
“bring a company to its knees with lightning speed”
C’mon, lets not go overboard … if their sales plummet over the next 3 months then we can start throwing around the drama.
Some restraint is needed Again – this isn’t new. horror stories around fast food have spread like wildfire for years. Remember the story of the battered rat in the KFC burger, or the Burger King where someone wiped their ass with a bun etc.
ben, don’t remember seeing anything in the past like this, with several not just one film, …. and the response form the brand suggests they’re a little worried.
either way, whether sales die in the ass (scuse pun) or nothing happens, it’ll be an insight into the ‘inlfuence’, or not, of social media…
User ID not verified.
I don’t get why this President is not delivering his address to camera? Strikes me as a strange approach.
If only the Domino’s president had of actually looked at the camera – they lost that ‘1-to-1 connection’ that adds to sincerity . Maybe the prompt cards should have been under the camera!
User ID not verified.
jinx LaurenMC!
User ID not verified.
Ben is correct. I doubt the chain has been brought to its knees. Let’s leave sensationalism to Crikey or the Smellograph.
Why did the CEO need cue cards? Surely if he felt that strongly then these messages could have been delivered down-the-barrel without too much rehearsal?
User ID not verified.
I’ve just written a piece on some steps Dominos should take to fix the problem, here: http://thefrant.com/2009/04/dominos-going-to-fall/
In summary:
1. Stop the rot
2. Apologise (properly)
3. Open up
4. Improve
User ID not verified.
I have seen the video, and the responses from Dominos on youtube, but it didn’t change my opinion at all. I ordered a Dominos pizza tonight without thinking twice.
Maybe it isnt such a big deal?
User ID not verified.
I honestly don’t believe this will impact too negatively on Dominos from a sales standpoint. Everyones heard horror stories of fast food employees being scumbags.
User ID not verified.
Any nasty side efffects this morning, Nick?
User ID not verified.
Any opportunity for a brand to talk beyond its superficial retail offers and predictable claims and show its real substance and belief is a great opportunity. This could have been great for Dominos if the brand came out with substance, passion and belief. However to show some over scripted, predictable corporate response merely portrayed fear and panic. Everyone knows this sort of prank goes on all the time. How many times have you seen jokes about grumpy chefs dealing with a complaint about badly cooked food. they rub it on the ground, spit on it and send it back.
This is nothing new and won’t turn patrons off overnight. the reaction of the brand however will.
This was the time to put the character and personality of this brand into the real conversations of thousands. Bad miss dominos!
User ID not verified.